Lessons Learned
by SharingBlood
Summary: Elena Gilbert is recovering from the loss of her parents and trying to face the new responsibilities she must accept with their loss. When Jeremy's drug use is noticed by his new teacher, Mr. Mikaelson, Elena steps in to try to help her brother. When she meets him in a conference there is a strange connection between them and she can't help but pursue. Summaries suck. Please read.
1. Chapter 1 Meeting

I wake to the sound of the door slamming downstairs. The light is unwelcome and I try to cover my eyes. I hear footsteps on the stairs and another door slam shut. I get out of bed and go to Jeremy's room, but the phone rings as soon as I touch the handle. I head downstairs and pick it up.  
"Hello?" The voice that responds sounds very soft.  
"Hello, I'm a teacher at Mystic Falls High School. I'm looking to speak with a parent or guardian of Jeremy Gilbert." I close my eyes and sigh. Never a break...

"His legal guardian isn't present, I'm his sister, might I be of any help?" The voice starts speaking as soon as I stop.  
"I think I might need to schedule a meeting with a member of the family. It appears he came to my class Stoned today. It's easy to tell when you have been around teens as long as I have. All the signs." I nod.  
"I understand. I'm really, very sorry about this. Is this his... History teacher? Yeah. History?" I wait for his answer..  
"Yes. Seems like you try to keep a close eye on him."  
"I do. We are staying with our Aunt right now and we all have a lot on our plates and... he's my brother. You know, I have responsibility for him." Silence. I wait for a moment. "Hello?"  
"How soon can you come in for a conference?" He asks. I look at the clock.  
"Uh... 15 minutes?"  
"Perfect. See you then."  
"Wait wait... I didn't catch your name and classroom number." He chuckles.  
"Mr. Mikaelson. Class S5." He hangs up. I shut off the phone and head upstairs pissed.  
"JEREMY!" I pound on his door. "Open up! NOW." He opens the door and peeks from behind it.  
"What? What's your problem?" I hit the door.  
"Your history teacher just called me and told me that I have to come to the school for a conference because you came to class stoned. 'All the signs' stoned." He rolls his eyes and goes to shut the door.  
"I'm cutting you a break because I see how much you have been through in the past year but that doesn't mean you get a free pass to screw up like this. Jenna has enough on her plate for all of us. I know this isn't easy Jer... But if we don't try to get better how can we?" He stares me down.  
"You done?" I say nothing and just look at him as he shuts his door in my face, then get ready for the conference.

I look for the class and when I find it, I knock on the door.  
"Come in." I walk in and see the teacher. He is so young looking, with brown hair, and a really great frame. He is wearing jeans and a short sleeve shirt and his muscles are so defined it looks like he's flexing.  
"You must be, Mr. Mikaelson... I'm Elena."  
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, please... have a seat." He is smiling at me and motions for me to sit in one of the desks. I go over and sit down, feeling his eyes follow me, and his gaze goes all the way up from my legs to my eyes.  
"So my brother... Let's talk about him." He smiles and gestures to his desk.  
"I get a lot of students who try to cheat, who text in class, talk to friends." I nod, listening closely. "But coming to my class blazed is a new one. I can't help but wonder if he thinks I am too lenient or if I just am too dumb to notice." I shake my head.  
"Mr. Mikaelson... I know my brother. He has had a rough time. I don't think he cares about rules anymore. Our parents died, everything changed." Mr. Mikaelson looks away and then back at me.  
"I'm sorry for your loss. How are you taking it?" I shrug.  
"I lost my mom and dad four months ago. I feel abandoned. I feel like I have to step up. I feel like I haven't done my job as his sister by being here." I don't meet his eyes. He gets up and my eyes catch him, he is closer to me now, having a seat in a desk next to me. I shift my body towards him.  
"You sound like you're doing well looking after your brother. You can't control his every move." I nod.  
"I know, it's just, I don't know how to make any of this easy. I don't know how to to help... what to do." He nods.  
"Teenagers act out. They feel a lot more exquisitely than we think. We have all been there, but seeing it secondhand is another experience entirely." He understands. He is an older, handsome gentleman, who is mature and completely understanding. He gets it.  
"Yeah." I don't know what else to say.

"I think he and I may just need to get to know each other better, that's all." I smile at him.  
"How about dinner? You can come over to our place. I can cook." He smiles but looks hesitant.  
"I don't go to the houses of my-"  
"I'm not your student." I cut him off. He sighs and closes his eyes shaking his head.  
"I feel like..." I stand up and get my stuff.  
"You're not my teacher." I grab a post-it note from his desk and write down my cell number. "Here." I hand it to him and he looks it over.  
"What's this?" He asks. I think to myself for a minute.  
"My cell. Friday at 7 would be good. I'm free. See you then?" He swallows hard and nods.  
"Yes, that-" He clears his throat nervously. "that would be fine. Great." I grin and start to walk out.  
"Great meeting you, Mr. Mikaelson." He stands and calls after me. I turn around and look at him as he speaks.  
"Please... Call me Klaus."


	2. Chapter 2 Appetite

_Thank you all so much for the reviews. They keep my writing going. Love you all._

**Appetite**

I jump when my phone rings. I expect it to be Caroline or Bonnie but I see an unfamiliar number. I clear my throat and answer.

"Hello?" The voice that answers back is easy to recognize, due to the smooth as silk accent.  
"Elena Gilbert?" I smile and lay across my bed.  
"Who's asking?" I ask playfully.  
"This is Niklaus Mikaelson." I laugh.  
"I know, I was kidding... What's up? Did Jeremy do something wrong?" He seems nervous.  
"No, uh. We had dinner plans- we were-" He is stumbling over words.  
"Oh yeah! Dinner, sorry. I nearly forgot. Just been so busy. Yeah, we are still on." I bite my lip.  
"Good. That's great actually. I was wondering where you live?" I laugh and give him the address.  
"Is that it? See you tonight?" I say in an oddly sexy voice.  
"Yes. Uh, yes. I will see you at 7." I nod my head and stand, getting ready for school.

"You gave the teacher you're cell number? Slut points." Caroline said, nudging me.  
"And if he is a crazy serial killer?" Bonnie asks. I try to keep all my books in my arms as we walk from the car to the school.  
"I kinda doubt it, Bon." She shrugs.

"I'm just sayin, people are crazy sometimes and I have a weird feeling about this whole thing." Caroline scoffs.  
"The same feeling you have about Florida's doom, or the same feeling you had about Obama?" Bonnie glares as Caroline turns to me next.  
"So is he cute?" I laugh and try to hide my grin.  
"More like gorgeous. He's kinda shy though." Caroline grins back at me.  
"Gonna break him out of his shell?" I nearly trip and fall and someone catches me, as my books go flying.  
"Wow, are you okay?" I look up from my books and see a pair of beautiful icy blue eyes staring at me. I nod speechless and laugh at my own clumsiness.  
"Yeah, I'm... clumsy. Sorry." He nods. He has dark hair, light eyes, pale skin, and a smile to die for.  
"You'll have to excuse us, we were just talking. Weren't watching where we were going." Caroline says.  
"Yeah. I was just visiting a friend." He picks up my books. "Here." I smile.  
"I'm Elena." He smiles back and takes my hand.  
"I'm Damon." He kisses the back of my hand and walks off. Once he is far enough away so he can't hear us, Caroline turns on me.  
"Hotter than him?" I shove her with my arm playfully and we head into class together.

**1 New Message**  
**Caroline: **_That isn't Mr. Sexy is it? Plz tell me no._  
I check my phone and roll my eyes.

**New Text:** _No. Mr. Tanner? Gross.  
_**Caroline: **_What's his name again?  
_**New Text: **_Mr. Mikaelson.  
_**Caroline:**_ Unf. You think he likes being called that during sex?  
_**New Text: **_His students call him that. Weirdo._  
**Caroline:** _Omg. I wonder if he likes that._  
**New Text:**_ Shut up._

I close my phone and focus on the lesson, but now I can't get him out of my head. I feel so weird but oddly good thinking his name. Niklaus Mikaelson.Klaus. I try to put him out of my head. With my luck he has to be married. _  
_"Miss Gilbert... _Miss Gilbert_?" I wake up, mentally.  
"Oh. Here. Sorry..." Everyone laughs. The teacher shakes his head.  
"Apparently not. I asked how many casualties resulted in the Battle of Willow creek?" I draw an easy blank.  
"I don't... I don't know." Mr. Tanner stares me down.

"I have tried to be lenient for obvious reasons, but thinking that you can use your parents death as a way to play hookey will only last for so long." I stare at him for a long moment, feeling the memory hit me like a train. I hide my face behind my hair.  
"There were 346 causalities, unless you're counting local civilians."  
"That is correct, Mr...?" I look over, eyes looking for the one who answered and I spot him.  
"Salvatore."  
"Well, Very good, except that there were no civilian casualties in this battle." I can't stop staring.  
"Actually there were 27 civilian casualties. Confederate soldiers fired on the church believing it to be hiding weapons... but they were wrong. It's a night of great loss. The founders archives are stored in civil hall if you want to brush up on your facts, Mr Tanner." I laugh under my breath and Mr. Tanner looks away, moving onto the next lecture. I look over at 'Salvatore' and he looks back at me, smiling.

Soon enough school is out and I find myself cleaning the house. Jenna is at a meeting and I am grateful that it didn't fall through. I start on dinner and sooner than expected it's almost 7. I finish getting myself ready and get Jeremy downstairs. I check the time. At 6:58 I hear a knock. I go to the door and open it, surprised to see Klaus in a suit. I smile at him and he smiles back.  
"That's a beautiful dress, Elena." I look down at it coyly.  
"Thank you. You look... handsome. Would you like to come in?" He nods and steps inside. Jeremy steps forward.

"Sup, Mr. Mikaelson?" Klaus looks at me and I shrug with a smile.  
"Jeremy, nice to see you outside of class. Is your homework done?" Jeremy blinks and looks surprised, I look back and forth between them. "I'm just kidding." We all laugh and I show Klaus to the table. The food is all laid out and I wait for him to make himself a plate, taking a moment to admire how gorgeous he is.

"Ladies first." He says. I shake my head.

"Not if the lady cooked it for you. Please." He smiles and I feel excited.

"So Jeremy. Do you have any interest in sports?" He starts to eat and looks at my brother.

"Not really." I wait for Jeremy to say more but then he stuffs his mouth with food.  
"So, Klaus... how long have you taught?" He looks up at me.

"A few years. Not too long." I nod and start to eat a bit.

"Make any new friends?" I look at him as he asks me this.

"No, but I did plow into someone today who was really awfully nice. His name was Damon, black hair-"  
"Blue eyes." Klaus says with me. I look over at Jeremy, who could care less then back at Klaus.

"Is he a student, I mean because he seemed kinda... old." Klaus laughs.

"No, he's my mate. He came by the school to see me today. What are the odds?" I smile and shrug. We all eat quietly a while.

"So... are you married? Do you have any kids?" I ask. He has his mouthful and shakes his head no.

"No. No wife. No kids. I got out of a serious relationship a few years ago and I haven't been with anyone since." Internally, I am thrilled. Externally, I am very sympathetic.  
"That sucks. How are you liking Mystic Falls?" He shrugs and shakes his head.

"It's Mystic Falls, nothing ever happens here but Decade Dances and town events every week." This is true. Jeremy finishes up and leaves his dishes, starting to head upstairs.

"Jeremy..." I look at him, begging him with my eyes to stay down here with us. He goes up anyway.

"It's fine." Klaus assures me. I look away, embarrassed.

"No, it's not. I'm sorry." He shrugs.

"You're lovely company, just the same." He takes his glass and has a drink. "I'm sorry about your parents. They had a lovely home, Elena." I nod and look away. _I will smile, it will be believable.  
_"Thanks... I'm fine. I feel much better." I smile at him and start to eat again. He looks at me, I feel his eyes on me and so I look up to meet his, he breaks the gaze before it takes hold. I finish my food and look at him.  
"That was delicious, thank you." I get up and he stands as I stand. I smile and take his plate. He follows me to the kitchen and as I go to the sink he lounges against the counter and looks me up and down.  
_See something you like, Mr. Mikaelson? _I shiver a bit at the thought.  
"So, marriage isn't really your thing, huh?" He looks confused.  
"Why would you think that?" _Shit. _

"Well, I wouldn't think you would have a problem finding candidates. I guess I just assumed you had a personal distaste for marriage." He smiles at me and I feel myself drawn. I turn back to the dishes.  
"I actually do have a distaste for marriage. So trivial. A sheet of paper, legal binds. I think they marriage is a technical way to say 'I love you' and a cliché way at that." I nod. I'm not sure what to say. I try to think of something and fail. I wonder when he has to get going. I suddenly realize I probably won't see him again. What excuse would I have?  
"Did you have a good dinner?" I ask, throwing a sideways smile to him. He stands and nods.  
"I did. Perhaps sometime I may treat you to a dinner." I get excited, and don't show it. I try to play it cool.  
"That sounds... great." I smile wide and he returns it to me.  
"Would it be alright if I took your number?" He asks. I swallow and nod.  
"Of course." He takes out his phone and dials the numbers I tell him. He saves it and tucks his phone away.  
"Got it. I should probably be going." I nod quickly and walk him to the door.  
"I'm really glad you came, I had a good time." He looks at me.  
"As did I. I'll see you soon. Thank you for having me."  
"Yeah, sure. I look forward to hearing from you." He laughs.  
"I'll be in touch, love." He walks down the steps and I close the door, my heart is going crazy. I'm excited and fluttery and don't know how he can be so damn hot and still be single. I head upstairs to my room and I lay down on the bed. He's nice, sweet, courteous, sexy... and I feel exhilarated because I know, that I will see him again.


End file.
